Mrs. CLARENCE F. (Genevieve "Jenie" Sigwarth) BACKES

SCHIRMER, SIGWARTH, BACKES, GANSEMER, HABEL, BRINKMEIER, BREHM, RUPPEL, KELLY, ROMBERG, VOSS, SCHAUL, BARTON, ONEYEAR, SCHLARMANN

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 7/16/2003 at 19:36:06

Genevieve Backes

Telegraph Herald - Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Mrs. Genevieve "Jenie" Backes, 92, of Stonehill Care Center, 3485 Windsor Ave., formerly of the Windsor Apartments, and Rickardsville, Iowa, died at 2:15 a.m. Sunday, June 8, 2003, at the care center.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Rickardsville, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call from 2 to 7 p.m. today at Dennis Kitchen Funeral Home, 3860 Asbury Road, Dubuque, where there will be a parish Christian wake service at 4 p.m.

She was born on Jan. 26, 1911, in Balltown, Iowa, daughter of Louis J. and Catherine (Schirmer) Sigwarth.

She married Clarence F. Backes on Sept. 26, 1934, in Balltown; he preceded her in death on Feb. 4, 2001. She and her husband lived in Rickardsville for 41 years, moving to Dubuque in 1975.

Since July 27, 2000, she had resided at Stonehill Care Center. She was a longtime member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Rickardsville, and its Rosary Society.

She was a devoted homemaker to her husband and family and loved to garden and grow flowers.

Surviving are three daughters, Mary Jane (Henry) Gansemer, of Rickardsville, Kathleen (Ronald) Habel, of Dubuque, and Rosemary (Barry) Brinkmeier, of Lodi, Wis.; nine grandchildren, Richard Gansemer, Debbie (Carl) Brehm, Kevin (Ellen) Habel, Brian (Casey) Habel, Lisa (Greg) Ruppel, Nancy (James) Kelly, Mark and Jonathen Habel and Kristi (Wade) Romberg; 23 great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Regina Voss, of Dubuque, and Rose (Ambrose) Schaul, of Manchester, Iowa.

She also was preceded in death by a son and daughter (twins in infancy); four sisters, Berdiva Gansemer, Verena Barton, Julitta Oneyear and Rita Schlarmann; a brother, Ewald Sigwarth; two grandchildren, Thomas and Anne Gansemer; and a great-granddaughter, Molly Ann Gansemer.

A Genevieve "Jenie" Backes Memorial Fund has been established by her family.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to the nurses and aides on the second floor of Stonehill Care Center and Hospice of Dubuque for their concern and care shown to Jenie while a resident there.